A court injunction restraining development works at the Carrickmines Castle heritage site on the M50 route will cost the taxpayer an additional €350,000 a week, the High Court was told yesterday.
Mr Rory O'Sullivan, project resident engineer on the south-eastern motorway, told Mr Justice Peart in an affidavit on behalf of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council that about €12.7 million had been spent to date on archaeology for the motorway. A huge proportion of this - €9.6 million - had been spent on archaeology on the Carrickmines site alone.
The motorway was to open to the public by October 2004, but as a result of delays generated among other things by legal proceedings that date had now been extended to August 2005.
Mr O'Sullivan said the absence of the motorway had a major negative impact on the quality of life of communities in the Dublin, Ballinteer, Sandyford and Kilmacud areas.
Its absence also had significant effects on business in and from the Sandyford and Stillorgan industrial estates, as well as access to the airport and to the Dublin region generally.
Mr O'Sullivan's affidavit was one of two submitted to the court yesterday challenging claims by Mr Dominic Dunne that mechanical diggers were demolishing the ancient remains.
Mr Gary Conboy, an archaeologist, told the court in the second affidavit that the Minister for the Environment had issued directions to the county council under Section 8 of the new National Monuments (Amendment) Act specifically drawn up to permit the completion of the motorway.
Mr Dunne is challenging the constitutionality of the Act.
Mr Conboy said archaeological digs began on Monday last to excavate, photograph and record all archaeological features. Given the size of some of the stones it would be necessary at times to use a mechanical excavator to lift, by way of harness, the larger stones.
All archaeological work was being conducted to best practices and could proceed only at a given slow pace.
He rejected Mr Dunne's claim that mechanical diggers were involved in the removal of parts of the archaelogical remains and artefacts on site.
He said the approach adopted envisaged the resolution of some features by preservation in situ and some by excavation and recording. Mr Dunne's challenge to the constitutionality of the new legislation will be tried in court next Thursday and Friday.
Mr Conleth Bradley, counsel for the local authority, told the court yesterday that in order to facilitate the brief adjournment Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council would until 11 a.m. on Thursday next undertake not to carry out any work save for those intended to preserve archaeological remains in situ.